Hamm House

One of the many historic shops in Kempen’s old town, Hamm House has been associated with the Hamm merchant family since 1870 and is now run by the fourth generation.

The company’s founder, Carl Hamm – also a founding member of the Kempen St. Martin’s Committee – began trading in “Colonial goods en gros et en detail” from 1859, originally from a location diagonally opposite at Ellenstraße 6, according to his grandson.

Following the closure of the wholesale business, the building housed Kempen’s first self-service shop from 1958 to 1976. The ground floor was adapted for a modern grocery store at that time. In 2005, the building’s original character was carefully restored through an extensive façade renovation.

The richly modelled 19th-century plaster façade is decorated with numerous stucco elements, while the wooden shutters on the first-floor windows feature striking Art Nouveau ornaments. The gated entrance once led to the rear storage buildings between Ellenstraße and Moosgasse.